


My buff son Jeramy

by Spankycomic



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-24 07:23:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14350692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spankycomic/pseuds/Spankycomic
Summary: A fic coupled with the occasional art. My buff son Jeramy is a not so serious character turned serious. Inspired by oddfellows but...bad.





	1. Veil of trees

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you guys for inspiring me and sending asks! I’ve had so much fun answering them and I hope to continue for a long long while

The day had been slow with little trials, and while others relaxed Evan wasn’t wasting any time. He had made trips back and forth from the basement tunnels and the workshop, fixing and sharpening his traps with careful hands. 

On his fourth trip back though he spots Phillip, staring off into the woods. He places a hand on his shoulder, shaking him a little. Philip looks back at him, blinking slowly. A sign that he was fine, before looking back into the woods. Evan stays with him a little longer, worried he was caught up in a loop again. Ever since he had met Phillip he had noticed that the quiet man occasionally went out and just stared at the woodlands surrounding the clearing. It wasn’t uncommon but Evan found that sometimes he needed help getting out of it, otherwise he’d stand there for hours unmoving. Since Philip couldn’t really speak he never found out why this happened to him but he supposed it was just another thing tacked onto the problems the entity had left them with. 

He pats his shoulder again, “come on, could use your help” speaking gently to him. Phillip points towards the woods and Evan nods. “I know I know but come on. Can’t be doin this..” Phillip takes a moment before nodding and turning away, following Evan back to the workshop. Evan catches him a few times staring out the window at the woods, fingers paused on his Bell. 

Later on the trials have started back up again, and Phillip is sent out. Evan works quietly on his traps, huffing when the damage is bad enough he has to put it in the scrap pile. The entity will fix them later but they won’t be the same. He’ll be have to work on them again later. After awhile he gets up, frustrated.

Max is out in the clearing, tearing up grass and throwing it above his head. It cracks back into existence before the mess even hits his head. Evan takes a seat next to him, watching as he continues to tear up more grass. After while he asks “what you got going on here?”. It gives max a pause and he stops tearing at the grass and instead shakes off what was in the little hair he has. He finally lets out a sigh, looking down at the grass. “Bored.”  
Evan let’s out a knowing hum, picking some of the grass still stuck off his head. The quiet moment is interrupted by a whisper, long and drawn out. Both perk up, looking around. It wasn’t the kind that meant a trial, which put Evan on edge.

Suddenly max gets up, body tense. “Max?” Evan asks, leaning forward. It isn’t till max bolts that Evan is staggering up after him. Somthing moves in the tree line and before he can think about it his weapon is there in his hand. He catches max at the tree line and yanks him back “the hell you doin now?” He huffs at him, turning his eyes to the woods. A small face disappears behind a tree.

 

Evan tells max to stay put, crunching through the leaves towards the tree. When he gets there though the boy makes a run for it, darting past the tree and into the clearing. straight into max. Before the boy can even make a sound he’s yanked back by his overalls. He falls, eyes wide with fear as the two look down on him.  
“I got em! Did ya see Evan I got him!” Max is making a ruckus, and bobbing in excitement when Evan finally hushes him, keeping his eyes on the boy. He places his hands on his hip, weapon fading with a soft crack. “You know who this is?” Max shakes his head, still grinning like a fool. 

“Hmph.” Evan grunts, bending down on one knee. He flashes his hands, showing that he has nothing. “You got a weapon on you, kid?” He asks as gently as he can. He’s painfully aware of what his voice must sound like behind the mask. The boy shakes his head muttering out a ‘no’. Max pushes past Evan, doing his best to crouch down too. “Do ya think he’s a new one?” He asks, looking up at Evan excitedly.  
Evan shakes his head, gesturing to the boy “no..looks at him. Looks like a regular ol kid.” The boy stares back with big eyes and once again Evan is painfully aware of how he..how they both look.  
Max doesn’t waste any time though and scoots closer to him. “How’s it that you got here?” Luckily he seems less afraid of max and his childlike demeanor than Evan and he answers pretty quickly. 

He points, looking back at the woods “woods” “and your name, boy?” Evan asks, patting Max on the back. Now this takes some time. The boy furrows his brow, looking down at his feet for a few seconds. “Jer...Jeramy?” Max, knowing almost nothing about social clues happily interjects “is that your name or a question!” He grins, glancing back at Evan and to the boy. Evan closes his eyes, taking a breath. “Not how jokes work max.” He says, standing with a few pops of his joints.

“Well...I don’t know what the entity would want with a kid...but you’re here now so stand on up.”  
The boy stands, brushing some of the dirt from him. “Hm.” Evan wipes some dirt off the boys face, though it mostly smears. “Ight, come on. We need to make sure no one attacks you on accident.”


	2. The Room

“What?” jeramy asks, catching up to Evans long strides. “attack me?” he asks, the worry clear in his voice. Evan looks back at him as they near the shack. “well…you look like a survivor…mask less and all…an you don’t have a weapon to defend yourself with…they might catch you before they realize you’re a- “he stops short as max throws down a pallet, nearly hitting evan. He struggles to get up on it, the wood creaking with his uneven weight. When it’s clear that he isn’t going to stop, Evan pulls him from it, easily setting him to the side. “the fuck you think you’re doing, boy?” he asks, kicking the pallet into nothing. With a crack the wood disappears. “I was gonna practice getting over it…” max whines, shoulders slumping. The sigh from Evan is long and drawn out, the kind of sigh made when this has happened before. “your leg won’t allow it, and neither will the entity in trials so there’s no reason to do that.”  
Max continues to pout as Evan makes his way inside the rusted shack, and as he looks back he finds jeramy comforting max. it pulls at his heart strings a little but he brushes it off. “hurry up, boy.” He calls, disappearing down the stairs. 

They pass through the basement and through a passage that looks like it was carved from the ground itself. A few wooden beams in the way make for a not so straight shot till they reach a room. It’s cold, and there’s little light, but a few makeshift tables line the walls along with the occasional chest. Bolts and screws litter a few tables, while others have deep scratches. Max lets out a little noise, pushing pass Evan and through the next corridor. Evan grunts but doesn’t chase after him, instead checking on the boy. He finds him paying no attention to him, instead at a table. 

Traps line the table in a neat display, though they aren’t his traps. He clears his throat as jeramy reaches his hand out to touch one, and the sound is enough to snap him back to reality. His hand jerks away sheepishly and he makes his way back to Evans side. “best not to touch those. She isn’t as good at remaking them as she thinks. Works only half the time, rest of the time they blow up or snap off someone’s fingers.” He says, tucking the boy into his side. It was a cruel thing to do, to criticize another’s work to someone who had no frame of reference but he’d be damned if he let the boy fawn over the pigs overly complicated traps. 

With jeramy now safely by his side he continues, winding down the passage way. there’s no sound or sight of max but as they go on Evan catches the sound of someone coming their way. Evan checks to make sure jeramy is behind him and before long they see who it is. Lisa. Evan nods politely, and scoots to the side to let her pass but jeramys curiosity gets the best of him and he peeks out from behind evan. Lisa is immediately stopped, quickly spinning to look at evan. “Excuse me?” she asks, straightening up a little. “just what do you think you’re doing?” she asks, long arm gesturing to the boy who is now more or less hidden. “it’s one thing ta bring that Dwight boy down here, but a child?” she’s less asking and more accusing, arms crossing. Evan throws his hands up, keeping jeramy sheltered the best he can “listen Lisa…we found him. I’m just making sure everyone knows.” She clearly doesn’t buy it, as she continues to stare at the two of them. Evan is doing his best to keep jeramy behind him, but the boy is giving it his all to peek around and get a better look at Lisa. 

“who’s we.” Lisa finally asks. “max an me.” Evan answers almost immediately as jeramy slips past his arm. He grabs the boy’s overalls, but has already out from behind him. Lisa looks him up and down, holding a long claw up at evan. She’s not much bigger than the boy he realizes as she moves closer to him. Her movements are very careful and slow, and Evan feels a little bad that someone like Lisa would be twisted up so much by the entity. When Lisa holds out her hand, palm up jeramy loses all confidence he has, shrinking back. Evan takes it upon himself to take jeramys hand himself, loosely holding it and moving it to hers. He doesn’t pull his hand out of Evans, and when Evan has it rested in Lisa hand it stays there. With gentle and careful movements Lisa closes her bigger hand around the boys, clasping her hands over his. “what’s your name, child?” this time jeramy has the answer to that question and he’s quick to respond. “jeramy...uh…ma’am…” She smiles, looking up at evan. “he’s going to be here awhile while I figure out where he goes back to…I aint gonna let anything bad happen to him, Lisa.” Lisa nods, releasing jeramys hand.   
“you better see to it. Evan doesn’t take good care of you, you find me. Ill set his head on straight.” “evan..?” jeramy asks and Lisa is back on the offence. “you didn’t even tell him your name? for fucks sake Evan I should knock it off right now” she looks down the passage, sighing “I’ve got to go. Keep him close.”   
They watch her go, and finally jeramy speaks. “she had her boob out…” a laugh escapes Evans mouth, and he feels relief wash over him. If that’s all jeramy was concerned with than this should all go good. “yeah. That’s how she is. Don’t stare.” He says, about to head down the passage before pausing. “actually, just don’t stare at anyone. Its rude you know.” He says, a bell ending his sentence. Evan lightens up as Phillip comes into view. “Phillip!”

Phillip point to jeramy, tilting his head at evan. “this is jeramy.”

He points again, nodding quickly at evan. 

“saw him huh? Shoulda said something” Evan says, unable to keep the smile out of his voice. He’s rewarded with a scoff, one of the few sounds he’s heard Philip get out of his mouth. Philip turns, nodding towards the way they were going. 

Evan takes jeramys hand, ducking his head, though he knows Philip can’t see it. “let’s get it over with then.”

 

The room they enter is especially brighter than the tunnels and the other room, with a lantern hanging on a hook providing most the light. In the middle is that god forsaken ugly couch along with the wooden spools set up for a table. Hay litters the floor, keeping the room a little warmer than the other one. Laying on that couch is an asleep Michael, with his arm laid over his eyes. With hay kicked out of the way, Amanda sits against the corner, tinkering and just generally making a mess. Sally and Herman are too busy talking to notice when they come in. before Evan can say anything though, Philip tolls his bell. Sally and Herman jump apart like they were just caught, while Michael and Amanda don’t even move. “this is jeramy.” he says, pulling the boy in front of him. 

He’s clearly not comfortable, but with Evan behind him, holding onto his shoulders he stands his ground. It isn’t until sally blinks right up to jeramy, tilting his head up with a finger that he starts to tremble. “what a handsome boy!” sally purrs before Evan swats her hand away. Herman sneaks closer as Evan speaks, clearing just as interested in the boy as sally. “he’s under my care. No harm is to come to him…. where’s max?” Amanda waves a hand, still not even looking up. “trial. Where’d you get the boy?” Evan doesn’t answer, choosing to watch Herman instead as he creeps closer. Before he can get close enough for Evan to reach him though, sally pushes him back. “strange for the entity to pick so young…” Herman says, glancing between sally and evan. While sally’s not really preventing him from approaching she is still something he’d have to pass by to get close.   
“he’s not here for that. He’s got no weapon.” Evan says, looking down at the boy. He seemed to calm down, though Evan doesn’t let go of him.   
Amanda stretches, standing up. “I wasn’t given a weapon at first.”

 

“your personality is a weapon itself.” Evan resorts back, and Amanda huffs. “whatever. It’s too loud in here.” She says, turning on heel and leaving the room. “HEY! Don’t leave your shit on the floor!” he calls after her, but she doesn’t turn around. Phillip takes jeramys hand and Evan leaves him with Phillip to pick up the little metal pieces off the ground where she was sitting. “can someone please wake Michael up.” He grunts out. Herman raises his hand a little too fast, grin growing. “this isn’t preschool just go wake him up” Evan says, standing and pocketing the metal bits. If she was going to leave them then he might as well keep them. Just as Herman peers over Michael reaching for him with sparks flying, his hand his caught by Michael. 

“I’m not asleep and if you touch me I’m going to break your hands.”  
Evan doesn’t say anything as Herman lets out a whimper and Michael sits up, still clutching his hand. He crouches down, getting jeramys attention off Philip. “that is Phillip. The lady in red was Amanda, though you don’t have to call her a lady. Sally, Herman and Michael.” He says nodding towards them. Phillip lets go of jeramys hands holding up three fingers. Evan puts down one of his fingers.   
“there’s two more to meet but I suspect they’re gone right now…for now you stick with me and Philip."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow that was actually longer....and oh boy we are just starting...so many things to come...anyway guys id really appreciate feedback! its important for me to know what you think and where you think things are going!   
> dont forget to check the blog for the art for this chapter!


	3. Trapped

Phillip is happy to tag along as Evan takes Jeramy around the tunnels. Occasionally Evan will stop and check the beams. As the tunnel inclines Phillip stops. Evan stops a little ahead of him and Jeramy nearly runs into the back of him. “What’s wrong?” He asks, moving around the large man to see his face. Evan catches his shoulder before he can get all the way around, turning the boy and himself away from the incline. “Nothing boy. Well go another way.” He says, pushing at the boy.

Despite how gently he thought the push was, Jeramys feet don't catch him. Phillip is there quickly, catching the boy and setting him upright. He gives him a look over before deciding he was fine. Before Evan can say anything, the taller man is snapping a finger at him. It’s a warning and a lesson all in one.

Evan couldn’t snap, never could have and never learned. His fingers just made a swipe sound when he tried, and having Philip snap at him was a way of saying he couldn’t do that. Even if he thought he was being gentle it wasn’t to Jeramy. He needed to be careful. Jeramy of course, didn’t catch anything going on, preferring instead to peer around Evan at the incline. The silent conversation and lesson went quite literally over his head. 

Soon enough they are moving again, and this time it’s Phillip leading. Having been through here Jeramy gets bored easily. He starts to lag behind Phillip and towards Evan. Evan finds out why pretty quick. “He doesn’t talk much huh?” Jeramy asks.

For a second Evan is thrown back into the past, back to when max was thrown at them without warning. It was weeks before they had coaxed any words from max. Weeks before any of it made sense. Weeks before they were able to hold a conversation. But when max has gotten more comfortable he had asked that same question. And Evan had laughed. And now Evan chuckles. “We all got things about us.” Is all he had said. But now he had someone who needed a real answer.

“Entity took his Voice from him.” He starts but is quickly interrupted by the boy “why?” Jesus Christ this was going to be just like max. “Well.” He says, looking at Phillip. Phillip doesn’t glance back, but he knows he’s listening. He’s always listening. “...the entity takes things. It..decided Phillip didn’t need his voice to do what it wanted.” He says finally, sighing. He’s sure that isn’t the reason but the only one who probably knew the real reason couldn’t say. “What does it want?” Jeramy asks, turning to walk backwards so he can keep ahead of the large man but still look at him.

Evan is quick to put a stop to that. “You’ll fall on your ass, boy. Walk normally.” He says and he’s reminded of his father. Phillip intervenes just then, taking Jeramys hand in his own. They round a corner and the tunnels become wood and the wood becomes a room. Jeramy squeezes Phillips hand as they enter the room. Evan doesn’t blame him. He hates the basement. The constant whispers fill his ears and seem to echo behind his mask. Soon enough though Phillip is leading them up the stairs into a small building. A store. Evan smiles when he reaches the top of the stairs. Letting go of the kids hand Phillip moves around, fixing some shelves and magazines.

Evan used to be amazed by this. The amount of magazines and topics they had. Of course most were blank or gibberish on the inside, but the covers weren’t. Magazines were expensive things, meant for those well off who could read. But these were different. They weren’t the ones he remembered. When Phillip had first took him here he had marveled at them and was taken back by the price. Phillip had to explain or rather show him how things had changed. 3.50 wasn’t a weeks pay but rather the price of a treat from the store. Jeramy doesn’t seem to notice the prices though and happily helps Phillip tidy up. When they leave they entity will move everything back but it was still something Phillip did every time he came here.

When it’s all picked up and moved around back to how Phillip wanted it he finally sits down. He motions for Jeramy to sit next to him. He does and Evan takes his spot with his back against the back of the counter. Phillip catches the boys attention, motioning to the store and then himself. “He ain’t quite there yet, Philip.” Evan says. “This Place is Phillips. Where he’s from-“ Phillip makes a scoff sound and Evan brushes it off. “Not where he’s From..but where he worked.” He corrects himself. “He came here himself. Times changed and he could do that” Phillip kicks him and while it doesn’t hurt he still winces. Jeramy is clueless and that’s something Evan is glad for. He wasn’t from Evans time for sure.

He changes the subject, tilting his head at Phillip in an apology. “What Do you remember, boy? From where you left?” He asks instead. Jeramy pauses, brow furrowed for a moment before he shrugs. “I don’t know...” he says. Philip pats the boys leg, getting his attention again. He gestures at the shelves and it only takes a second for Evan to figure out what he’s asking. “The magazines. You Remember magazines?” He asks. He’s sure he isn’t asking what Phillips wants him to but he’ll get to it. The boy nods, confused. “Good. Now...do you remember a popular one?” He asks. The boy takes a second before answering. “There was one that had like..lots of words on it. They looked kinda boring though..had people on it. Uh...” they give him time as he looks around, no doubt looking for the exact magazine. He won’t find it. “Somthing like...it had a bands name.” He says finally. Well that didn’t help but at least by the way Phillip is thinking he can tell he’s not sure either.

“What about events? Last event you remember?” He asks. “The sun! I was at school and they gave us glasses and we watched the sun!” He says, lighting up. Evan is even more lost than he was before but Phillip has caught on. He holds up a fist and passes his other in front of it, looking excitedly at Jeramy. “Yeah!” He answers.

Evan let’s it go, somthing he’s learned from being here. He can’t possibly catch on to everything that everyone has done or seen here. None of them are from his Time and the things they know about are beyond him.

The things he remembers are below them.

He tunes back Into the conversation to find that Jeramy is telling a story about it to Phillip who’s listening very intently. He feels out of place. He’s no where near where he should be. Even sitting here in the shop is wrong. He shouldn’t be here.

After awhile he gets up, and Phillip notices. He gives a small wave to let him know he’s okay and in a few seconds the smell of smoke fills his lungs. The shop disappears and he’s in another basement. The smell lingers awhile longer, but he continues on up the steps. He’s greeted by the familiar sight of the smelting pot and the tubes that carried everything he had cared about when he was where he was supposed to be. He continues up the steps all the way to the top.

A desk used to sit here. In this small room that overlooked the whole thing. Now it’s empty. Windows broken and leaves making their way into the room. The corner is scorched where a chest would have sat had this been a trial. He sits, head In his hands.

After a few minutes he rips his mask off, flinging it at the wall. It hits and falls, unscathed. The sting he broke to rip it off mends. When he looks up it sits facing him on the ground. For a moment rage fills him. For a moment the mask mocks him. Standing up he moves to pick it up, ripping the stings once again. Placing it back in his face he lets it mend itself back and he pounds his way down the stairs to the outside.

Smoke fills around him and before he knows it he’s in the opening of the mine. He goes down, and down and down until he reaches a set of doors. They used to be his doors when he was small. He played his part all the up to the end. He opens them. Easier now than when he was a boy. Passes through them, passes past a cart filled with a mockery of what he had built his life on. He finds the first beam and passes it. He finds the beam he wants. The beam that ruined everything.

Cut corners and you’ve got yourself the perfect pillar for disaster. One hit and it breaks. Falls and splinters on the ground. Even this isn’t satisfying. The ground doesn’t rumble and come crumbling down the walls don’t collapse and the wood doesn’t even break like it should.

Nothing is right.

It’s a mockery.

It’s all mockery.

Soon enough Evan is back at the doors. With a pull they slam closed. The trapper doors shut and the mine closed off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m looking for a beta to help me get chapters up faster and make sure they’re better written. Feel free to message the blog and talk to me about it! Also I’ve noticed I have quite a few Spanish speaking fans! If you’d like to help translate this work that would wonderful! I’m more than happy to see this turned so that even more people are able to read it


	4. Released

He stays down there for a long while. With the doors shut the air in the mine becomes stale. It’s dark and quiet though, and for that Evan is thankful. It isn’t until the whispers pull at him, egging him to go out that he moves and finally reopens the doors. Once he’s back out the whispers are gone, but somthing else pulls at his attention.

The way the fog rolls in and the birds and bugs go silent. It isn’t long before he sees her. When Anna first came to the fog Evan wasn’t sure what to make of her. This strong and broad woman was very different from the women he remembered and certainly different from the others in the fog. She stood proud, and spoke loudly. But that wasn’t to say she couldn’t speak quietly. Like a switch her large personality was turned into that of an apex predator. Quiet, low to the ground and patient. He had feared of what she was capable of what what she had done to be thrown in with the lot of them. But much like max he found her childlike. Instead of deserving to be here he found she was another victim of unfortunate circumstances. Unlike max and Phillip however she took what she had and continued on.

He watches as she goes from locker to locker, placing her axes carefully in their holders. He calls out to her and she perks up, motioning for him to come to her. A trial was to start soon and she only had a few minutes to place what she needed. He obeys, and quickly makes his way to her as she finishes up one locker. “Evan.” She says, greeting him with a nod. He follows her as she moves. She’s quicker than him and he finds himself having to predict her direction before she moves.

“Anna. I have someone you need to meet.” He crosses his arms, watching as pallets and chests start to crack into existence. She doesn’t bother looking at him as she continues her work, “where?” She asks as another hatchet materializes in her hand.

Oh.

Evan feels ice pour into his veins as he realizes what he’s done. “After the trial. The clearing please.” He rushes out, thoughts quickly going to the wreckers. But it’s blocked right now. There’s a trial going on and he’s not allowed there. In a panic the smoke fills his nose and when it clears he’s in the clearing.

“Phillip?” He calls out. The shack is empty and so is the workshop. He hurries down the steps and through the tunnels. Amanda sits in the first room, tinkering with another mockery of what was her teachers work. She glances at him as he burst through the door and holds her hand out. “My bolts and screws.” She says, waiting.

“Where’s Phillip?” He asks, making no move to give her what she wants. She doesn’t answer and instead flexes her hand at him impatiently. He reaches into his pocket, pulling out a handful of metal and practically slaps it into her hand “wheres phillip.” He says again, glancing around the room. She takes her time, sorting through the metal bits before looking up at him. “Missing two.” She says, turning to face him expectantly.

He growls, and jams his hand back into his pocket.

It’s empty.

“Musta Not picked them up. Where’s phillip.” He try’s again. She gives him a look, her head tilting down. “Don’t know.” She finally answers, turning back to her work. His fists tighten but he continues down the tunnels. Picking fights isn’t somthing he needs right now and certainly not somthing the others need to pick up on.

Herman is sitting on the ugly couch but when Evan walks in he’s quick to his feet. “Mr MacMillan! I have somthing for you...” he says, and by the way his braces struggle he can tell he’s grinning even more than he should be able to. “Not now. Where’s the boy. “ He asks, waving him off. Herman is quick to answer him, pointing toward the same tunnel they went down in the first place. “I’ve been there. He’s not there.” He says, crossing his arms. “No, but I know Phillip was going to get you..but rather sadly you had..locked yourself in your room.” He giggles, clearly having fun with this. It doesn’t take much to get him to mellow out though, just a little straightening up and generally being bigger than him. His case of the giggles are gone and he’s suddenly much more ready to helps “Philip has gone down there but as there’s a trial he’s likely waiting. He might think it’s one of your trials.” He provides, talking a step back. “Thank you.” Evan replies, moving past the couch and heading towards the incline.

As the dirt begins to go up he finds Phillip sitting there. Jeramy is tucked neatly between his legs fast asleep. As he approaches Phillip looks up and reaches out a hand. Evan takes it, carefully kneeling down as not to wake the boy. “...I’m sorry. He’s not your responsibility I shouldn’t have left him with you without warning.” he whispers. Phillip squeezes his hand and smiles, looking back at the boy. He’s curled up, head resting on Phillips knee. “I’ll take him somewhere to rest.” He says, reaching to pick up the boy before Phillip swats his hand away. He shakes his hand at him, glancing at the boy. “What? No. You can’t carry him any gentler than I can. You’ll wake him up with your shaking because of his weight.” But there’s no argument that can be won with Phillip.

Without a look He gathers up the boy, nodding his head towards the tunnels. “Yeah yeah I’m going....” he stops a second though, a grin to match his mask forming on his face. “If he gets too heavy...feel free to say somthing.” He says, and is rewarded with a stern look.

If he wasn’t carrying the boy he would have made a grumpy face and pretended to walk with bow legs, shaking his pointer finger around. It was a little joke they had gotten used to from their first fight that had ended in laughter. Evan couldn’t be serious when Phillip did that and so any chance he got he had used the joke in an attempt to get the man to do it again. Most of the Time He was rewarded with the little impression, but being a quiet man Phillip never did it around others. It was somthing for just the two of them.

 

Herman is back on the couch when the return. He doesn’t jump up, instead nodding at the two. “Ah! You found-“ Evan is quick to hush him, jabbing a thumb back at the sleeping boy. He’s restless now, face crunched up as Phillip try’s to soothe him without any hands. “Up.” Evan says to Herman, and hes up and out of the way before Phillip gets around the couch. The boy is placed down and Phillip adjusts him comfortably before moving from him. Herman grabs Evans arm, tugging him to the side. “Id like some of your time.” He whispers, eyes searching the mask. Evan nods, glancing at the boy and Phillip. He hasn’t moved far from the boy and watches as the boy twitches in his sleep. “Philip.” Evan says softly, glancing at Herman. “...I’ll be back in a little bit. I’m sorry for doing this again bu-“ hes cut off by and hand shooing him away. He’s fine with the boy. With that he nods towards Herman and they disappear in the smoke.

 

They’re in what Herman would call an office but Evan knows for a fact it’s the man personal playroom. “The tapes.” Evan grunts, moving to sit down in the chair. Herman isn’t as quick to turn them off as he is to follow other orders but they get shut off. The silence in the room is stunning. “I have an idea..that might help a bit. If you’d like. Or we could just go back and do the nerves again...but I’m sure that my idea will work-“

“what do you want to do to me?” Evan asks, sighing. Herman is quiet for a moment before speaking up. “If I were to alter the peripheral nervous system, I could potential remove any and all pain..if done right...though that would mean you wouldn’t require any more of my help.”

“No.” Evan sighs, turning his head to look at him. “Definitely not. You’ve just figured out this I’m not becoming a learning piece.” Herman lets out a little hmpf before tapping on the bed. “Fine. Turn over.” Evan does as he says and as Herman straps him in Evan speaks up. “I mean it, Carter. Got a boy to get back to now I can’t be waiting up for the entity to fix the mess you’ve made if you botch anything.” “Yes yes I know i know now hush.” He says, and without warning a needle is pushed down into his back.

“FUck” Evan groans out, jerking in the straps. “Mh.” Herman smiles, and after a few seconds moves on. Herman has no wish to hurry or ease any of the pain as he does this but thankfully when he’s done parts of his back and shoulder are numb. The straps come off and as Evan sits up relief washes over him. “Thank you.” He says, patting Herman’s shoulder. “Yes well if you’d like to thank me you should at least let me try to fix it...no matter the pain.” He says, brow raising. “Not into the machinist stuff carter you know that.“ Evan grumbles out, moving carefully around and testing the movement of his shoulder. Small twinges of pain are still present but Evan would take that over the actual pain any day.

The entity was good at healing but it wasn’t prefect. Nerves were somthing that it took a long time to bring back and when Evan had found out he had jumped on the chance. Satisfied he nods at Herman “you coming back with me?” He asks. Herman chuckles, moving around and placing thing back onto trays before slipping those horrible tapes back in. The screaming in the room continues. “No...I think I’ll stay here a little longer..” he says and Evan takes that as his chance to leave. “Alright then.” Hes soon once again enveloped in smoke. Phillip isn’t standing by the couch when he returns, instead he’s got Jeramy on his lap. Immediately Evan senses somthing is wrong.

The boy isn’t fast asleep and instead is pressed tightly to Phillips cloak. He looks up when Evan appears and even through the mask he can see the red of his eyes from crying. “What happened?” Hes on the couch with them before anyone can answer. Phillip closes his eyes, tapping on his head before opening them quickly. “A nightmare?” He asks, turning to face the both of them.

Phillip carefully untangles the boy from him, plopping him down into Evans lap. He glances at the tunnels before ducking his head sharply. An apology “go on. Thank you.” Evan replies, turning his attention back to the boy. He’s giving it his all to keep his nose from running, the small sniffs filling the room every few seconds. With that Phillip is gone and Evan is left with the boy.

“Tell me about it.” He says, placing his hand on the boys head. He’s so small it engulfs his head. “It’s okay. Got you now, boy. Tell me about it.” He says again. Finally the boy looks up at him. “I was lost...” he starts out, and by the way his words tremble Evan can tell the dream had got him good. “In a..a maze. And. And there were other people but they didn’t even look at me.. but I follow them anyway..and...” his sniffs become faster and his tiny frame shakes. Evan wraps his arms around him, keeping the boy close. He calms down after awhile like this. “They all got hurt..and and they died...” he whispers, glancing up at the masked man. “Do you remember who hurt them?” Evan presses, frowning. The boy shakes his head, wiping his eyes. “They..just got hurt..and then I lost them when they ran away...but I heard them...” he says real quiet. He’s not crying anymore. “Hm.” Evan hums, keeping Jeramy tucked into him. It sounded like he had been thrown into a trial. But not put in one. Evan understood that.

Sometimes it happened while they slept and at first he believed it was because that’s what they did day in and out and their brains had nothing to conjure up except that. But after while he was aware that it was never his trials and it was never him in the dreams. “It’s going to be okay. It’s a bad dream. I won’t let anything hurt you.” He says, patting the boys back softly. “Now. Well get you cleaned up, and presentable. You’ve got someone to meet.” He says, wiping some of the smeared dirt away from the boys eye.

It hadn’t been too hard to get the boy clean and ready but his overalls were a different story. There was no way Evan could get the dirt out so the boy would just have to go like he was.

 

Up at the clearing Evan spots her before he hears her. Jeramy hears her before he sees her. “It’s pretty” He says, and Evan agrees. “Anna!” He calls out and she stops what she was doing to look back. She’s got grass all woven together in a small mat when they get closer to her. She’s quick on her feet when she sees the boy. Moving around him. “Uh. Hello.” Jeramy says though Evan can tell he’s a little nervous. He doesn’t blame him with how big Anna is. She was a little taller than Evan, almost reaching Phillips height.

“You’ve got a boy.” She finally speaks up, moving to face Evan. “Yes, this is Jeramy and he’s under my care. He was los-“ she holds up a hand, shaking her head “I do not care. Boys are no concern of me. You can keep him.” She says. “I wasn’t giving him to you.” Evan says back, placing a hand on jeramys shoulder. “He’s under my care.” She nods, looking again at the boy. “Small. Should make sure he gets bigger. Easier to keep that way, Evan.” She back on the ground before Evan can speak, continuing to mess with her small mat.

“What are you making?” Jeramy asks, moving to sit across from her. She doesn’t look up at him, but st least she answers him. “A window shade I think. Evan calls it that. It is to keep wind from the house.” She says, pulling some more grass. “You put it inside in front of the window, then hang..curtains. It works very well but takes time to make.” Jeramy doesn’t say anything for awhile, instead watching her work. Evan nudges him up once it’s clear he isn’t going to get up. “Come. I could use your help.” He says, leading Jeramy to the workshop.

 

The traps have been repaired and Evan sits back down to continue to work on them. Jeramy is interested it seems and he gets his help working on them. Shows him how they work and is careful to teach him how to not get his hand caught in it. The boy does eventually get Evans hand shut up in one but after it’s pried back the wound heals. The boy goes from a hand on his mouth to wonder as the skin burns itself back to normal. “Still hurts. Can’t promise that you’ll heal up if you get caught.” Evan is quick to tell him. “Be more careful.” He says and the boy answers back “Yes sir.”

It’s him and his father all over again, though his father had used an old deer leg to show him what happens when it sets off. Still though he finds himself put into his fathers place.

He might be okay with that.


	5. Met with resistance

Evan finishes the traps long after Jeramy had gotten bored of helping him, and when Evan finally stands up Jeramy is rubbing his eyes. “Tired?” Jeramy shakes his head, but Evan sees through it. The boy looks worn out.

The fog never really changed. Stars stayed in the same place and the dark never lightened. It was easy to lose track of the time here. Swinging the bag over his shoulder he nudged the boy out the door. “Come on”

He leads him back down to the first room, setting the bag down on the table when he catches a conversation coming towards them. Max is unmistakable with how loud he gets, but as the two come around the corner Evan sees who the other is. Bubba. Before he can speak the gorish man has caught sight of Jeramy.

“Sawyer!” Evan bellows but before he can do anything he’s faced with the sight of the chainsaw in bubbas hands. As bubba darts forward Evan is there in his path. Metal hits metal and Evan grunts as another notch is carved into his cleaver. “Max!” Evan yells, as bubba twists the saw leaving Evan open. Instead of the backup he had wanted max has taken Jeramy by the hand and dragged him out towards the common room. With a side step Evan intends to block bubbas path but the weight of the man throws him off and he gets pushed past. Bubba is gone in the tunnels and Evan has no choice but to chase him down, dodging beams as he passes them.

 

When he gets to the common room max is there with bubba. Evan is on him in a second, jerking the other around and getting up in his face. “What did you do?!” He all but yells in sawyers face and by the way the man cowers Evan is sure there won’t be another fight. When bubba doesn’t say anything Evan releases him, spinning to find max doing the same. “Where is he?” Evan asks when he doesn’t see Jeramy around. Max ducks his head and points, looking up at Evan like a scolded child. He doesn’t have time to get the story, leaving the two for the tunnels instead.

The boy isn’t around and as Evan continues his pace he begins to come on the incline. Before he can turn around he’s pulled up into it, smoke stinging his skin. The opening of the mine greets him as he’s released and he realizes his mistake.

A trial.

He wasnt planning on doing one and without his traps the entity has taken what it wants. The trial starts and Evan is shown his work was for nothing. His traps are set back how the entity can make them, dull and hard to set. Cursing his cleaver sits heavy in his hand as he marches his way through the estate. He needed to finish this as quickly as possible. He catches sight of a beanie ducking out of sight. It isn’t hard to catch the tired man, he’s slow to react to being spotted and soon enough Evan has him on a hook. His head nods down in sleep and Evan leaves him there.

A generator flashes and as he heads that way another flash of clothing catches his eye. His cleaver is raised as he rounds the tree, swinging down and catching the tree as he misses. A soft sob echos and Evan is caught off guard. Claudette is quick to scatter but Evan isn’t focused on her anymore. On the ground a few feet away is Jeramy. He looks terrified and as Evan nears him he relizes what the boy sees.

He sees him for what he is and what he does. Unable to remove his cleaver from his hand he does the best he can to seem less frightening, crouching down. “It’s okay.” His voices comes out as a whisper. Another genie pops to life across the estate. “Get up, well go home” Evan tries again and luckily Jeramy does stagger to his feet. They’re interrupted by a survivor, and Evan catches the sight of David as he lunges towards them.

Evan is quick to meet the mans attack, and before the man can even get a punch in Evan has got him down. It was somthing David tried to do for awhile when he had first joined them, and the other killers had confirmed that he was a fighter. Back to his old ways again Evan assumes.

As Evan hoists him up on his shoulder Jeramy moves closer, hand grabbing at Evans overalls. “Evan..” his voice betrays his worry and as David does his best to pound and kick the shit out of Evans back and stomach Evan has no choice but to move. As he gets David on a hook he turns to find that the boy had followed him. Bending down he drops his trap to comfort him. “Its going to be okay. To go home we gotta get them all on hook, do you understand? Can you help me do that?”

It’s too much to ask for he knows that. It’s too much for a boy to see and get caught up in. His heart pulls when Jeramy nods and an uncomfortable feeling rests in his stomach as he gets up and leads him away from David.

The boy follows him and Evan finds out real quick jeramy was never meant to be here. He doesn’t see the generators, the traps or the red ember scratches that liter the ground from a survivor.

Evan leads the boy carefully around trees and rocks, making sure the boy didn’t fall victim to his own traps. While the boy couldnt much help track the survivors he could help setting the traps. They’re placed more quickly now that Evan has a lending hand to getting them down and set. When a survivor is caught in a trap though Evan knows he can’t wait around for Jeramy. He’s got to move fast so the boy could get out of this place as soon as possible. He leaves Jeramy behind a little, knowing the boy he would follow the best he could. It’s Quentin again, and as Evan gets him on his shoulder Jeramy catches up.

The boy sees the trap and before Evan can turn to head towards a hook he catches the sound of a trap being set. Pride swells in Evan and he almost loses hold of Quentin. But he’s got a job to finish. The man once again is hooked and as the entity takes him away Evan feels a bit sorry for him. The survivors didn’t care enough to come and get him before the entity grew impatient, and because of this the trial was over for him.

He’d find them.

 

He finds Nea right as she finishes a generator. The time she wasted on finishing it up is her down fall. Before he can get her to a hook though she kicks him one too many times and he’s forced to drop her from pain. “Stay” he grunts out at Jeramy, turning on his heels after her. She’s fast but not fast enough. Eventually he catches her, running right towards a hook. Evan is already heading back towards where he left Jeramy before she’s done screaming. But he doesn’t find the boy where he left him. There are burning scratches on the ground and as they fade before Evan can follow them he becomes worried.

The entity nags at him as Nea is taken off the hook and he has to make a choice. Look for the boy or head towards the survivors. A yell deicides for him and in a flash he’s off. David’s chasing the boy and as Jeramy sees Evan he makes a beeline for him. The brutish man is stopped dead in his tracks as Evan reaches the boy and passes him. David turns, going through a window to put some distance between them when the fourth generator lights up. As Evan continues to chase him around the broken walls he realizes what he’s doing. Buying time. Sure enough as David throws down a pallet onto Evan the last generator comes to life and the siren for the doors go off.

Rage fills him as he kicks the pallet and soon enough he’s on the man. The entity’s whispers are drowned out by the anger and as Evan gets him to the ground he’s given a gift. As the man tries to crawl away a heavy boot is slammed into his back and his cleaver rains down on him. Too soon the man is dead and Evan is left out of breath. He moves as far away from the body as he can, pushing Jeramy away before he gets a chance to see what he’s done.

It was different when the entity took them. The body would be there until the trial ended, while the entity left nothing when it took the survivors. It was somthing Evan dreaded when it happened. When he lost it all and by the time his head cleared the entity had more reason to keep him there. More reason for him to be a faceless killer.

The sound of a door catches his ears and as he nears it he sees Claudette and Nea there. They don’t stick around to taunt him and as he chases them through the gates he’s blocked off from following any further. His cleaver hits the claws in frustration but he knows it does nothing. Spinning around he uses the time he has to grab jeramys hand before the smoke envelops him. When it clears the boy is with him and they’re in the woods.

It’s always the woods when the entity returns them.

“Come boy. We’ve got a long walk” Evan says, releasing his cleaver from his hand. If the boy wasn’t worn out before he definitely is now. Evan takes pity on him, hoisting him onto his side as they walk. It’s easy to carry him, and the boy holds on, pressing his face into Evans side.

Sure enough it’s a long walk. When they finally get back into the clearing even evan is tired. The boy is set down as the trees clear and with a little bit of whining Evan gets him to walk himself. The tunnels are a welcoming sight and as they near the common room all Evan can think about is getting the boy to sleep so he himself can rest.

He’s lucky this time and the room is empty. Jeramy is crawling onto the couch and getting comfortable as soon as they reach it and with a heavy thunk Evan is seated on the floor with his back against the couch. He gets as comfortable as he can and before he falls asleep he feels a tiny foot move to rest on his shoulder.


	6. A Whisper

The days passed like they always did, with trials and work to do. Jeramys presence became normal after some time but even if the boy was fitting in Evan still kept the same watch on him. When they had gotten back Evan had sought out bubba, laying into him about frightening the boy. From then he hadn’t seen much of the man but there was no more trouble from him. Both Sally and Lisa took a quick liking to Jeramy, and Evan could leave him with one of them if he needed to go do somthing if Phillip wasn’t around to watch him. It was peaceful really. He was curious and helpful, and continued to make Evan proud. 

As Evan returns to the common room he’s pulled aside. It startled him at first, being jerked so suddenly but as he sees who it is the suprise is turned to disinterest. “What you need, Myers?” sitting on the couch is Jeramy, who’s spins when he hears Evans voice. Evan gives the boy a glance before turning back to micheal. As Evan grows impatient on waiting on him to answer Phillip steps forward. Tugging micheals hand off of Evans shoulder he shoos him back. Micheal taps his mask before pushing past Evan into the series of tunnels. Evan brushes it off, moving to land heavily on the couch next to Jeramy. 

The man was hard to figure out, he switched from talking to mute easily, and unlike Phillip he never gave any help on trying to figure out what he wanted. “Any idea what he’s going on about?” He asks, glancing at Phillip. The tall man leans on the back of the couch, thinking for a moment. Finally he reaches up and covers half his face with his hand, moving his free hand to tap jeramys head. When Jeramy looks up at Phillip his seriousness fades and he smiles, scratching and ruffling the boys hair. “He doesn’t need a mask.” Evan sighs. 

He knew it was probally better for the boy to have a mask, especially when he went with Evan in trials...but there was somthing about giving him a mask that felt like he was trapping the boy. They were masked because they were killers. They were masked for their own shame and punishment, the only exception being Phillip, max, and Lisa. Lisa had been twisted up, her face itself becoming her mask while Phillip chose to cover his face in paints and chalk. Max on the other hand..he figured it was a cruel joke the entity didn’t give him a mask. 

Jeramy pulls him out of his thoughts by tugging on his overalls, and as he looks down at the boy he can tell he’s already lost this argument. “I wanna mask..” still though, he tries to fight it. “No you don’t..it’ll be hard for you to see and will only get in your way...” he glances up at Phillip for help but he only smiles, raising his eyebrows at him. “Well..I wouldn’t have to wear it all the time..I mean like...I could only wear it when I’m helping you..” jeramys got that tone in his voice, the kind that really pushes to be convincing and sweet. The same one max uses to try to get his way before throwing a fit. 

With a heavy sigh Evan let’s his head fall back on the couch, “I’ll think about it..” he says. It seems to be enough because soon Jeramy is happily leaning on Evan with a grin plastered on his face. Phillip takes action once they’re settled, leaning down and placing a small kiss on Evans forehead before being envolped in smoke. He returns quickly though, with some of the magazines from his shop. As he crawls over the couch to sandwich Jeramy he opens them up. Some of them are blank but a few have markings. He tosses the marked up ones onto the floor, pulling out a pen. It doesn’t work at first, and as Phillip continues to scrape it against the pages it catches the boys attention. Phillip continues and as Jeramy watches him suddenly the pen has ink. With Jeramy now paying full attention to the paper Evan let’s his eyes close, listening to the repetitive scratching of Phillip marking up the page. He must have dozed off because he’s awaken suddenly by Jeramy tugging at Evans arm. Groggy he looks over to find out exactly what Phillip was doing. He’s drawn Jeramy, a little roughly but well enough Evan is impressed. 

“Didn’t know you could do that.” Evan grunts, reaching over the boy to take the book from him. Before he can really study it though Phillip is snatching it back, waving a finger at him. 

He’s back to drawing and this time  
Evan watches him. He’s pretty good at it, a lot better than Evan is. With careful small strokes Phillip adds on a mask to the portrait of Jeramy. The eyes are big and it only covers half of the boys face. When Phillip adds the mouth Evan is hit with a pang of affection. He makes the mouth of the mask match Evans, though with how it was shaped it was less of a monsters grin and more of a tricksters. Jeramy is all about it, glancing back to make sure Evan was watching. When Phillip is finished he hold it up, head tilting slightly. “It’s good.” Evan nods at him, studying it carefully. It looked like Phillip had taken Evans words into consideration when drawing the mask, the eyes were big so he could see out of it and it only covered his front. His nose was open and so was half the mouth so the boy wouldn’t get too hot in it. As Evan studies it he realizes he’s not just judging the drawing but reading it like a blueprint. 

“Phillip....” he says, letting out a sigh. He really didn’t want to give the boy a mask. It scared him, think what might happen if he did. He didn’t want to be responsible if the entity found out and used it to keep the boy. Sure Jeramy could help with the traps and could entertain the others while they waited but he wasn’t a killer. He wasn’t damned to this place like the rest of them. He had a chance. A chance to get away from all of this. He knew he’d already gone too far with the boy, letting him grow comfortable around them. His thoughts battled themselves as he took the paper from Phillip. “Please?” Jeramys voice cuts through his thoughts and as evan looks down at him a tiny hand is placed on his arm. 

“It’ll take time...” he says reluctantly, placing his hand over jeramys. His hand completely dwarfs the boys but he squeezes it softly anyway. They sit there awhile, Jeramy snuggled up to his hip while Phillip lightly scratches at Evans head. It’s comfortable, and Evan finds himself starting to doze off again until he hears a noise. Glancing down he’s quick to realize that Jeramy is fast asleep, warm and comfortable. Phillip on the other hand is not. He’s staring Into the dark of the passageway, lip raised. The noise repeats, unmistakably coming from Phillip. A soft but low Groggle of a sound. 

As Evan looks towards the passage way bubba scoots Into the room. He keeps his eyes down, shuffling around the couch. “Sawyer.” He looks up at Evan before looking back down, ducking his head a little awkwardly. “It’s okay. Stay out of trouble” Evan says, shifting a little to pat Phillips shoulder. The chubby man nods quickly, scooting past Phillip anxiously. He gives a glance back at the three, before taking a step towards the tunnel. Stopping he turns a little, voice quiet “freddys coming back around...thought you should know...”. With that he leaves, hurrying out of sight but not out of mind. Phillip looks at Evan worried but Evan gives his arm another pat. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll take care of it..” 

It isn’t much later a whisper searches through the room finally landing on Evan. Groaning he shifts to get up, waking the boy. “Trial Time. You want to go?” He asks him, moving Jeramy so he can heave himself off the couch. The boy nods groggily and Evan holds out a hand for him to take. He wakes up a little more as Evan gathers his traps and helps the boy around the tunnels towards the coldwind farms. As soon as they’re there smoke surrounds them and Evan holds tight to Jeramys hand. When it clears Evan curses. 

Jeramy is more awake than ever now, hands going up to his face. A small metal mask is securely wrapped around the boys head, close to the drawing Phillip had made. It’s half grin is no match for the grin Jeramy gives when he looks up at Evan, but Evan can’t bear to give him a smile back. 

The entity is watching.


	7. Smoke and screams

Evan has to be quick snapping out of his feelings about Jeramys mask, he only had a little time to drop his traps around the farm. When he’s done he returns to Jeramy and waits. A whisper swoops through the farm and the trial has started. They’re both off quickly, Evan checking the nearest generator while Jeramy sets a trap. The boy doesn’t follow so close behind as the first time in a trial with Evan, but still stays within seeing distance. They move quietly, and until a generator lights up they don’t find anyone.

Evan is quick to head towards the light, mind always racing and taking in possible ways they went. There’s a generator close to the one that lit and he checks that one first. Sure enough it’s cylinders are barely pumping and as Evan checks the walls he finds Laurie. She runs, hopping through a window to put some distance between them. Jeramy stays behind while Evan goes after her, waiting for her to make a mistake. Eventually she does, looking behind her she catches on her own feet and nearly runs into a hay bale. He hits and her burst of speed from the pain is interrupted by the very haybale she nearly hit. She drops a pallet before he can swing again, but it’s quickly kicked out of existence and the chase is back on. 

A few loops and he’s caught her. Her ragged breaths give her away as she crawls and Evan finds a hook for her.  
As he’s headed back towards Jeramy a trap snaps, but it’s not from a careless survivor. Cursing under his breath he continues towards the generator, nodding at Jeramy to follow before heading back towards the first trap. Just as he expected it’s lying on the ground in pieces by the time he gets to it. He’s angry but he’s got a job to do, and as he spins on his heels towards another generator it lights up. “Cornfield” He says, and the boy is off. While Jeramy is preoccupied with setting a trap Evan finds someone he hasn’t seen in awhile.  
The police man.

Tapp sees him but holds his ground, and it’s only until Evan gets close he realizes why. The detective turns to run but Evan can hear the generator being worked on to the right. Instead of chasing he heads straight to it, and manages to catch a Jake still with his hands in its insides. Laurie is released from the hook the same time he pulls Jake off of it. The unlucky fool is hooked right next to the generator. With a heavy boot he stomps the generator, denting it a little. Before he can turn a trap goes off and he sees the outline of Laurie struggling to escape from it. She’s in the corn field, and Evan needs to get there as soon as possible but when he takes a step he catches sight of tapp. Before he can pull Jake off tapp is on his shoulder and headed towards a hook. Even with the kicking Evan believes he can make it before Laurie gets out, and as he throws the scarred man up on the hook Laurie is out. But she’s not out of the corn field yet, and she’s injured. 

Following the scratches and blood is easy, and when he finds her she has no where to go. He heads back towards the corn field, looking around as he heads towards a hook. It’s not exactly in the field but it’s close enough. She’s hooked and as the entity claims her Jeramy pushes past a row of corn into the open. “I found someone!” He says excitedly, motioning for Evan to follow. Tapp Hangs and Jake is fighting off the entity, Laurie’s gone..he hadn’t seen the other. So, he follows. 

Jeramy leads his to a locker, pointing at it quietly. As Evan glances up a crow stares back, tilting its head at him. When he opens the locker he finds Quentin, asleep. The man nearly falls out when Evan opens the door but he jolts awake, eyes wide. He’s dragged out of the locker and down into the basement just as Jake is taken away. He’s lucky this trial. With Quentin hooked there nothing to do but wait. The man struggles to pull himself off the hook but the entity grown tired of his display and is quick to come down. A boom sounds through the farm as tapp is taken away, and Evan is left waiting for Quentin to give up. He doesn’t, and Evan is stuck for a few minutes with nothing to do but look around. He goes back up, finding Jeramy sitting on the floor of the shack when those claws finally come down. He holds tight to Jeramys hand as the smoke surrounds them, and soon enough they’re back in the woods. 

Jeramy immediately touches his face, lip out when the mask is taken away with the smoke. A well of relief floods Evan and he hugs the boy, scooping him up into his arms and heading towards the clearing. He sets the boy down once they’re in the clearing, and Jeramy doesn’t fuss. The boy runs towards the shack, glancing back at Evan as he enters it. Evan lets him go, taking his time. Before Evan can even get to the doorway of the shack max bursts out of it, Jeramy in his arms. He’s laughing and it’s all good fun until a spin trips him up and he falls. Max let’s out an “oof” and Evan is quick to their side. Jeramys just fine, though he’s got grass in his hair now. Max on the other hand is letting out huge breaths like he’s about to cry. He scoops up Jeramy setting him to the side, and hooks his arms under max to sit him up. “Whatdaya do?” He asks, keeping a hand on the mans shoulder. “Twisted my foot...” he says, pounding the grass with his hand. Evan can tell it hurts but he can also see max is angry. He glances down at his feet and decides nothings twisted more than it usually is. 

“Yeah looks like you twisted it plumb backwards.”

“What?!” Max bends forward, trying to grab at his feet in a panic and Evan laughs as he stands up. “Hey...” max pouts, takes Evans hand and gets pulled to his feet. Jeramy grins, peaking around Evan and max notices. A faint blush spreads on his cheeks, and he shakes his foot “...I’m fine I’m tough...” Evan chuckles a little, raising his arm to look at Jeramy. “You okay too?” Evan asks, and the boy nods. 

It doesn’t take long for max to go back to his usual self and soon enough he’s running around with Jeramy. Evan takes that time to sit against the shack wall, watching them muck around like an excited dog. At first Evan is just watching them, but then notices someone coming back from a trial. It’s unmistakably Lisa, and he raises a hand to her as she gets closer. Max and Jeramy don’t notice, too caught up on whatever game their minds made up. She smiles as she reaches Evan, spinning to take a seat next to him. They sit and watch for awhile, but the silence is interrupted by a hand on his arm.

“You’re smiling.” Lisa says, tilting her head at him.  
“I’m not.”  
“You are. I can see it, Evan.” Lisa lifts a long finger, tapping the jaw of his mask. She glances back at the two roughhousing.  
“Gotten attached to him, haven’t you?” “He’s a good kid.”  
She ducks her head, agreeing. “Yes, but You said you were going to try to get him back.”  
“I am.” Before he knows it Lisa has ahold of his face, turning it to face her. “Evan. Don’t be like this. I’m not going to argue with you. You said you’d get that boy back where he came from, but you’ve grown attached to him. He can’t stay here.”  
“Why not?” He snaps back, and as soon as the words are out of his mouth he regrets them. He knows why not. Lisa’s grip is released from him and he lets his head fall down, a sigh racking his shoulders. He can feel Lisa’s gaze soften on him, but no relief comes from it. He must have been too loud because soon max and Jeramy are padding up to them. Before they can say anything though Evan stands up.

“Come on, boy.” He says. His voice betrays him and a uncomfortable silence follows his words. He starts walking, placing a hand on Jeramys shoulder as he passes him. The boy follows, though a little reluctantly. 

Evan heads for the woods, steps a little more heavy than they usually were. He’s been living a dream, pretending it was all okay, but dreams end. As they march through the trees a small snap and scuttle sounds behind him. He glances back to see Jeramy on the ground. The boy holds his knee with one hand, and a fallen branch in the other. “Evan...” the voice breaks his heart, and as those teary eyes look up at him he scoops the boy up.  
It’s his fault.  
He was moving too fast for the boy to catch up. Jeramy is doing his best not to cry, but his eyes are betraying him and small tears roll down his cheeks. “Hey..hey let me see..” he says, doing his best to maneuver the boy in his arms to get a look at his knee. It takes coaxing but the boy finally shows him, hands quickly slapping back over the scrape. Carefully he removes Jeramys hands away from the scrape, watching. After a few seconds of the wound not burning back to normal Evans brow furrows. It’s been a long time since he has had to deal with an injury. Having nothing on him to clean it with he turns on his heels, heading back towards the shack. Part of him is relived the entity hasn’t gotten such a hold on him yet, but another part is afraid.  
He’d been with Evan in trials and with traps, near his blade and near the others. He could have been hurt or died. A shiver goes through him thinking about it, about what would happen if the boy was killed. If his wounds didn’t heal than he doubted he’d come back. An old part of him mourns for the boys soul but he pushes it down. As they keep walking the trees seem to wobble, and Evan gets concerned. He’s still holding Jeramy when smoke surrounds them. When it clears he’s in the red Forrest, and the boy is no longer in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeramy isn’t gone forever!  
> I would like some opinions though!   
> Would you like to stay with Evan or follow Jeramy? Maybe switch between the two?  
> Who would you like to see more of?
> 
> I’m also looking for someone to help with this fic, help me bounce ideas off of and expand the character relationships a little! If you’re interested feel free to send me an ask at mr macmiwwan!


	8. Apart

The ground hits Jeramys back hard, knocking the air out of the boy. After a few seconds he sits up, legs drawn into himself as he looks around. There’s not much around but the smell of smoke lingers in the air. It’s not the harsh stinging smell of the entity, but somthing warm. It mixes with the wet trees and brings a little bit of calm to the boy. He finally gets up, knee aching. It had stopped bleeding but from the light through the trees he could see it was swollen. 

He makes his way through the trees, stopping to listen every once in awhile. It was quiet, and the once comfort turned to fear. In the distance a house is seen, barely visable through the trees. He stops short of the doorway, trying to peak around before entering. When it seems nobody is in the little cabin he takes a few steps in. He notices the table, and runs his hands over the covering on it. It’s not necessarily soft but it’s homely, woven carefully with intricate designs. The fire place has smoldering logs in it, the smoke creeping out of them lazily as it burns out. Just as Jeramy is about to go upstairs he hears foot steps. Panic fills him and he glances around before his eyes land on a locker. 

Sliding in he isn’t tall enough to see out of the vents, but he hears the stairs creek with heavy steps up them. His heart pounds, causing his knee it ache just a little more. After a good minute he doesn’t hear anything else and opens the locker to peak out. Met with silence he climbs out, taking the chance to take another look at his knee. It’s scrapped up, with a bit of dirt on it and a scab beginning to form. The swelling makes the red surrounding the wound look angry and threatening. 

He really needed to clean it. 

Looking around the bottom floor he doesn’t find much. It isn’t until he spots the woven grass window covers that he knows where he is. He’d have to ignore his knee for now, and find someone. Taking a breath he carefully ascends the stairs. He takes it slow, and when he reaches the top he sees somthing. A trap. Hope fills him when he recognizes what it is. Evan is here. He can find Evan. When he scoots around it though a realization strikes him. He’s alone in a places he’s never been, and this new world is a minefield of traps. 

He waits up there by the trap for a long while, afraid to go any further. Time passes and it’s quiet. He’s jolted by a horn going off, and as he creeps around the balcony to look outside someone runs into the house. A snap and he hears a cry, turning back to see a big man caught in the trap he advoided. He watches fearfully as the man pulls at the trap, and after a few tries he releases himself. When he’s up though he finds Jeramy. 

Before the boy can run the brutish man has ahold of his arm, pulling him into a corner. A hand covers his mouth and he starts hyperventilating as heavy footsteps pound up the stairs. A large figure passes and Jeramy realizes who it is, struggling to no avail against the man holding him still in the shadows. 

Evan passes, but the man doesn’t let go for some time. When he finally does Jeramy jerks away from him, stepping backwards towards the outside balcony. Before he can turn the man grabs him again, pulling him away from the grass growing on the rotten wood. He places a finger to his lips, keeping one hand on Jeramy as he turns his attention back to the grass. Jeramy catches sight of a rose tattoo on the mans neck before a snap startles him. The man pulls at Jeramys arm, and Jeramy follows, but the grip doesn’t loosen. He panics when the man creeps closer to the edge, pulling away to keep from falling. What sounds like a grunt from the man he’s quickly picked up, and without a chance to yell he’s carried as the tattooed man jumps. 

The land isn’t soft, and he hears the man gasp as his feet hit the ground but he doesn’t stop there. He runs, dodging trees and grass as a gate comes into view. There’s a lady waiting there and as they approach he recognizes her. It’s the same lady from the first time he was in a trial. That time too she waited by the gate. As he gets closer he starts to struggle in the mans arms. Right at the gate he’s dropped and the lady is quick to run over to him, helping him up. She’s got glasses, with her hair pulled back. While she checks him over he gets a good look at the man who grabbed him and realizes it’s the same one who had chased him in his first trial. As he opens his mouth to say somthing a hand is slapped over it and the lady who was once so careful about checking him over has a hard grip on him. She shakes her head, glancing out of the gate.

Eventually she and David perk up and before Jeramy knows it the man has disappeared though the gate towards a distant light.   
The lady holds him by the hand, pulling Jeramy through the gate. A blurring figure is just barely seen before the gate is out of site. Quicker than Jeramy had ever returned to the camp they reach a clearing in the trees. A few slightly familiar faces in the crowd catch Jeramys sight as the lady finally let go of his hand. Luckily the group seem to be more concerned about a figure sitting on the ground than their new found company. 

Curiosity leads Jeramy closer, peeking between people. On the ground sits a rugged boy, clutching his stomach. The man and lady who brought him here are quick to kneel beside the boy, not really touching him but sitting close enough they could. Finally after a few seconds the boy pounds his fist in the dirt, looking up. Jeramy just barely sees the tears in his eyes before the lady hugs him, and the once silent crowd around him starts to move and talk. A woman with short hair backs into him and he lets out a yelp, almost falling on his butt. 

“Sorry! I-“ she stops short though, looking down at him. “..um..?” The uncertainty in her voice is enough to draw the attention of the others and before he knows it 11 other eyes are on him. They look tired. Some more than others, but the boy on the ground looks the worst. “..i...” he gets out before he feels a large presence above him.   
“It’s alright. I told ya I found a tot out there.” 

“Oh shit. David what the hell are you thinking? You brought him back here?” 

“What else was I supposed to do? Leave em there for the fuckin killer to catch?” 

He asks, crossing his arms. The woman who stepped on him crouches, looking him up and down. “Claudette, he’s hurt..do you still have those wraps?” The black lady pauses, before getting up and disappearing from Jeramys sight. “I think so..” he hears a few zippers before she returns, switching places with the other lady. 

“Yikes...sit down for me. What’s your name?”  
“Jeramy.” He isn’t very loud, but she nods anyway and pushes his pant leg up carefully. “Feng will you get me the disinfectant? Second pocket, Brown bottle.” She orders and the lady who stepped on him follows her directions, returning with the bottle. It’s worn and old, and as Claudette tears a bandage wrap and dabs some on he takes a look around. 

Trees surround them, though the space isn’t as big as the clearing back with Evan. There’s a few logs and a fire in the center, which a few of the group have returned to.   
Without warning his knee begins to sting and he lets out a cry, jerking away from Claudette. She gives him an apologetic look, moving his leg back towards her slowly. “Sorry. Should have warned you. It’s been awhile since I’ve had to treat an actual injury..” she says sheepishly, going back to dab at his knee.   
Soon enough it’s cleaned and wrapped up, and his pant leg is pulled back down. When he doesn’t get up Claudette holds a hand out for him. “It’s okay. It’s safe here.”

———————

Evan was tired when he got back to the clearing. The trial was unexpected, and didn’t go too well. He’d only caught one of the survivors. The nerves in his back and shoulders were coming back and the ache on top of the worry for the boy had made him too eager, and distracted. The clearing was quiet and as Evan makes his way through the tunnels Lisa meets him in one. 

“Where’s Jeramy?” 

“Gone.”

He simply answers, pain creeping slowly. He didn’t want to talk he wanted to get as far away from everyone as possible. 

“Gone? Where?” He could tell she was suspicious but he didnt have time to talk it out. He just wanted to rest. As he pushes past her a sharp claw catches his arm. Without meaning to it slices a scratch into him and as it burns back to normal Evan turns, angry.   
“He’s GONE. Entity took him back I don’t fucking know where he’s just gone. You wanted him gone so he’s gone” he snaps, arm swinging to push Lisa back. She catches it, holding tight to him.   
“No. I didn’t want him gone. I wanted you to keep your promise. You don’t GET to be angry at me. You’re being an asshole. Fix your attitude before you talk to me again.” She hisses at him, pushing his arm away. “You’re an adult. Act like it.”   
Before he can reply she’s turned a corner and gone. 

The next person he sees is Amanda, though she thankfully pays no mind to him as he passes. Before long he’s in the common room. Bubba looks up as he enters, moving off the couch and ready to leave until he sees that he’s alone. Evan takes the chance to collapse on the couch. “Evan?” A timid voice gets closer but he doesn’t answer. When nothing is said he feels somthing drop on his stomach. Looking down it’s a little bracelet, not very well made but carved into what looks like a tooth is a J.   
“I’m really sorry. Can you give this to him...?”   
Evan let’s put a groan, wrapping a hand around the shitty little thing. “Hes Gone. Where’s carter?” Bubba doesn’t answer and Evan takes that as a ‘I don’t know’. “If you see him send him my way.” He says, placing an arm over his mask. He needs to sleep. 

He’s thrown into a dream, watching as Dwight works on a generator. Evan can see micheal, peeking from behind a wall as Dwight continues to work. It’s pitaful as micheal creeps closer, flipping his knife around. Finally Dwight notices but it’s too late. A harsh stab sends the boy down and as he crawls micheal watches him. It was boring, watching micheal in trials. The man never showed any type of emotion, staying cool and collected while he hooked Dwight. He was focused and precise with what he did. There was no anger when he lost and no joy when he won. At first it was a bit scary, seeing someone so cold and calculated but after being around him Evan realized he didn’t care. The only time he had seen the man get fired up was against his sister. Those trials were interesting. Before he could see the trial through the end though he’s waken up. 

When he comes to it’s dark, and when he removes his hand and sits up he sees max. “Hey buddy.” He says before a stabbing pain shoots through him. His teeth grit, and max seems to see it because he’s taken a few steps away. “Lisa told me what happened...” he says. Evan rubs at his shoulder, fingers avoiding the hooks. 

Finally he pats the seat next to him. Max takes the seat, and when Evan lifts his arm the man tucks himself under it. “Do you think he’s okay?” He asks, looking up at Evan. “I don’t know. He wasn’t in the trial.” He says. He knows its harsh. That he should tell max that the boy is back home wherever he had came from, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. 

“If he’s not home I can just find him again.” Max is determined, his hands bunching up as he talks.   
Evan let’s out a chuckle, letting his hand drop down to scratch at Max’s head. 

If he wasn’t home they’d find him.The

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So this one was a little crazy, but don’t worry it’ll settle down soon.
> 
> Input is super great and helps me keep writing so if you have headcanons then send them my way!


	9. Trials

  
It wasn’t long before Jeremy had gotten everyone’s names, some had introduced themselves while others were pointed out by Claudette’s careful hand. As Claudette settles down with him the questions start.  
“Where did you come from? Before the trial I mean.”

He shrugs, picking at the bandages on his knee. “Woods. With Evan.”

  
“Oh! Is Evan your dad?”  
He notices Dwight jerk his head towards him, but the man doesn’t join the conversation.  
Jeremy shrugs, attention going back to the bandages.  
“I wanna go back...” he says quietly. It was all too much, too fast, and he didn’t want to be here with strangers. He wanted to curl up on the couch against Evan and tell him stories. He wanted to go back.

Claudette goes silent, not quite sure what to do. Before she can decide David is quick to move in front of him, grabbing his little hand. “Hey now. Hey. ‘S all right. Well get you back, alright?” He ducks his head, trying to get a look at him under his hair. Jeremy nods, wiping his face with his free hand. He feels tired and drained, not protesting when Davis lifts him up into his arms.

“Get Nea And Tapp to help you make him a bed...by the fire. If he ain’t healin he ain’t meant to be here. Don’t want him getting cold or scared” he gently pats Jeramys back, moving to kick a few rocks away from the spot he’s picked out. When he’s satisfied it’s cleared enough he heads over to where Dwight, Meg, and Jake are talking.

“Jake you still got that blanket?” He asks, adjusting his grip on the boy. “Yeah I think? Dunno if it’s still there... I’ll get it just a sec.” while he gets up, headed towards the woods David goes back to the fire, finding Nea patting down a bunch of leaves under a blanket.

  
“Where’d you get that?” He asks, moving to set Jeremy down on the blanket

  
“By that tree.”

She points, wiping her hand on her jeans. About that time Jake comes back out of the woods, throwing his hands up.  
“Fine its.it’s fine. Thanks” he says, pulling his arms out of his coat. He covers the boy up, smiling softly. “Get some rest an well figure it out in the mornin'.” Jeremy nods, pulling the jacket up over his face. The crack of the fire has him on the brink of sleep, and right before he goes under...he hears a hum.

 

 

His dream doesn’t make any sense. There’s too much going on, and he can’t focus on anything. It’s hard to breath, and he feels like he can’t move.

Opening his mouth to speak he finds that he can’t. He can’t say anything. Panicked he pushes his way through the dream, invisible forces bouncing off of him as he struggles to move forward. A slicing pain shoots up his leg, and he falls. The ground jolts him back into reality. David’s jacket is still wrapped around him, his elbow hung in one of the sleeves. He tilts his head up, gasping as the cloth is removed from his face. It’s quiet, the only sound being the fire crackling beside him.

Untangling himself he gets up, keeping the jacket in his hand. He wants to go back. His eyes land on the edge of the trees and without thinking he’s off.

As he crunches though the woods noise assaults him from all sides. He drops the jacket, covering his ears and starts to run. The whispers bounce off his brain, and before long he’s on his knees. The noise is too much, and his vision sways as he’s hoisted into the air and away.

 

 

He keeps his eyes closed as his savior walks, but they don’t seem to mind and it’s a quiet walk. The campfire must have come into view, because the back of Jeremy’s eyelids brighten. Slowly he opens his eyes, finding a disgruntled Quentin. He shuts his eyes quickly but the man had noticed. “i won’t say anything” Quentin says, looking down at him. Jeremy gives it up, opening his eyes as he sets him on the ground.

The fire crackles loudly beside them, and with the light from it he can tell the other man hadn’t slept. Jeremy doesn’t say anything, still expecting to be scolded but the words never come. Instead, the man is staring at the fire, zoned out. “...are you.okay?” he asks quietly. Quentin doesn’t answer at first, and he’s about to repeat himself when a heavy sigh escapes the tired man. “No.” “...oh...” it’s awkward, and quiet. he doesn’t know what to say, how to help or what to do. his hands tighten as he sits, focused entirely on the dirt.

“i think...I’ve lost it.”

His voice breaks the silence, and Jeremy looks back up at him. He doesn’t look as zoned out as a second ago but there’s still a heavy tired fog in his eyes.

“i don’t want to do this anymore. i thought...i thought maybe it would get better. Id adapt. Overcome. Fight back something...anything...but....” he slowly turns his head, looking at Jeremy. “im sorry you have to be here with us. i know...we aren’t really the best bunch.”

Jeremy straightens up, eyes wide “it’s...it’s okay! I’m okay i mean...i miss...home. But i don’t mind being here...” He says and Quentin shakes his head. “No. You do. You don’t just get up and run into the woods unless somethings wrong. Things like this-“

he gestures around

“-a kid shouldn’t have to be a part of. Shouldn’t be with us at all. I get it. i want to get back too. But there isn’t a way back. We’ve looked. You run out there and you’ll be swept up in a trial. You’ll get hurt. you’ll die.” it’s quiet for a moment, and the words sink into Jeremy. His head falls, eyes locked on the fire.

  
He needed to enter a trial.

  
Quentin must have noticed his change in behavior, because a hand pats him on the back. “It’s alright kid. Get some rest, I’m sure in the morning they’ll have questions” with that he stands up, brushing dirt off his legs. he pauses before walking away, seemingly caught up in a thought. “Good night.” he finally says, and Jeremy watches him cross the clearing. 

  
———-

 

Evans time seems to drag on. Max tries throws himself into trial after trial, and it takes both Phillip and Evan to get him to rest. His snores fill the common room with noise, the only other sound being the occasional sharpening of blades. Philip sits cross-legged against the couch, just a few feet from Evan. They don’t talk, both focused on their weapons. Something in the air was brewing, and the two had taken the slight break of trials to clean their blades.

It wasn’t really something they had to do, the entity wouldn’t let them deteriorate far enough to be useless but the act itself was relaxing. Times like these were rare, and almost always meant something was about to change. It was always best to be prepared.

Phillip has moved into his bell, and for a while Evan watches him. he’s very careful, tracing all the grooves and cracks. His hands are steady, the practiced movements as he works clear as day to Evan. Calm washes over Evan the more he watches, and it isn’t till Phillip stops completely that Evan notices he’s been just watching for some time. Max has woken up, and when he sat up he must have jolted Phillip. Max rubs his eyes, looking around a little dazed. Max doesn’t say anything, and Phillip joins him on the couch now that there was room. Time continues to pass.

Evan isn’t sure how much time has passed before he finally leaves max and Phillip to go repair traps, and as he works something echos in his mind that something is very wrong. It doesn’t usually take this long, and the suspense is growing heavier.

From his workshop he sees Micheal step past the trees. he waves at him through the broken window, and Michael turns towards him. He doesn’t move and Evan decides that’s as good as he’ll get and goes back to realigning springs. More time passes, and he can’t take it any longer. He heads out of the workshop back towards the tunnels, noting that Micheal had moved on.

His foot falls are heavy as he makes his way to the common room, and as he arrives he sees he’s not the only one worried. Max and Phillip haven’t moved but Lisa, sally, and Amanda have joined them around the couch. Bubba stands in the door way, listening. When Evan enters they look up expectantly and Evan realizes that he’s the one supposed to fix this. He’s been keeping the peace and welcoming new killers since he got here, if something was wrong he dealt with it.

Cursing under his breath he straightens up, clapping his hands together. “Alright. Who’s been in a trial recently?” It’s silent, and Evan sighs.

“Sally, could you go and gather up everyone else?” Evan says, and as sally turns to go Amanda snorts “We won’t all fit.” Glancing around he hates how she’s right. It would be packed between the couch, the table and the lantern.

Phillip raises his hand and Evan nods “we can use Phillips. The yard is big enough.” nobody objects and it’s settled. Bubba and Lisa go for the tunnels, but the others burn away through the smoke.

Evan takes the tunnels.

He walks slow, mind spinning. What if the trials just...stopped? Were they stuck here now? He couldn’t fix this. They’d expect a solution and Evan...he has none. Was this because of the boy? Had something happened? His back and shoulder starts to ache from the stress, and he stops for a second. He leans against the wall, breath heavy.

They’d expect him to know what to do. He needed to focus on that. He starts moving again, mind still rolling.

He had to look confident. He straightens up his shoulders as he walks and his pace picks up, feet landing heavy.

He needed to be ready.  
He had to be as the entrance comes up.

Address their worries, avoid questions.

It worked for his workers surely it’ll work again.

He steps into the basement and is quick to go up the steps and out the shop.

Sally’s already gathered Anna and Herman, but Micheal is no where to be found.

 


	10. The Plan

Jeramy wasn’t sure how long he stayed by the fire. The crackle just barely muffed the sounds of the survivors burning away. He’d seen evan do that before, but it didn’t seem like the survivors were doing it themselves.

It was different.

They crackled and slowly started to burn from the inside, and even in the dark jeramy could see the light from the cracks as they quickly gathered up things before fully disappearing in the smoke.

 

After awhile he sits up, unable to lay there awake any longer. It’s quiet around the camp, the silence only broken by the occasional noise of movement. Jeramy stands up, stretching. Looking around he finds that it’s just him, Dwight, Tapp, and Jake. None of them pay any mind when he picks up the blanket he’d been laying on, shaking out the leaves from it.

He folds it up the best he can, moving to where jake was sitting under a tree. He looks up as jeramy approaches, hands idling on what looks like a small branch. He hands the blanket to him, curiously looking into his lap.

It was a small branch.

Jake doesn’t say anything, setting the blanket to his side, and without anything else to say jeramy leaves him to go back to the fire. Even as he does he can feel jakes eyes on his back. The silence is overwhelming, but jeramy’s too afraid to break it.

He looks longingly at the woods. He needed to get into a trial. He wasn’t sure where Tapp had gone, but he could see jake across from him. Looking around he finds dwight on the opposite side, packing a med kit.

Dwight was distracted but jake was going to be hard to get around since he was facing him. He scans the woods quickly, keeping an eye on jake. If he could go towards Dwight he could slip into the woods from the right. He could bypass Jake...if Dwight didn’t look up. He starts towards that way, getting about half way towards Dwight before suddenly the silence is broken by a loud crack.

 

Dwight turns around quickly, med box shutting with a snap. Dwight’s eyes land on jeramy before flickering behind him, and he rushes past him. Jeramy turns, seeing another one of the survivors had joined the camp. Nea sits hunched on the ground, hand on her shoulder. Light burns from the wound and before his eyes the nasty looking wound burns itself back together, blood disappearing in the smoke until there wasn’t a single trace of it. Nea still doesn’t move though and Dwight sits next to her.

Tapp appears from the trees and makes his way to her. Nobody touches her until she looks up, eyes red and tired. Jeramy looks back at the woods, now clear. He could slip away. It wouldn’t be hard, since the others were preoccupied with Nea. before he can weigh his options though another loud crack splits open the silence. This time he has a good view as David burns into existence.

Tapp moves on to David while Dwight talks to Nea quietly. David doesn’t sit quietly while his wounds burn, but he’s got the same tired eyes as Nea. He’s up in a flash and Tapp grabs his arms, trying to force him to sit back down and stop moving. He doesn’t care. 

“Fuckin daft! You fucking led him right to me! Let go!” he struggles in Tapps arms, voice raising. Nea doesn’t say anything, but Dwight moves to block David with his back, continuously talking to her in a hushed tone.

Jeramy is too busy watching he doesn’t notice someone who’s made their way behind him. Just as David breaks out of Tapps grip, a hand grabs Jeramy and yanks him back. He jerks his head back, and meets the tired eyes of Jake. Jake motions for him to follow, mouthing the words ‘come on’ before slipping into the woods. Jeramy looks back to the survivors just in time to see Nea catch David right neck with her fist as both Dwight and Tapp struggle to pull the two apart. The yelling increases in volume and Jeramy backs away into the woods.

 

Jake stands against a tree, looking up when Jeramy pushes past the shrubbery. He holds out a hand, and Jeramy takes it. He’s led deeper into the woods, until he couldn’t hear the two fighting anymore. He notices a few crows follow him with their gaze, but Jake doesn’t seem to pay them any attention. Finally they stop, and Jake lets out a sigh.

“They’re finishing a trial. It gets pretty loud when they all come back, best to wait it out.”

He hands him the blanket he used last night, wrapping it around Jeramy’s shoulders.

“Let’s take a walk.”

——————

 

The meeting was mostly filled with boredom. The plan was to continue to try to enter trials, but a small spat had broken out between a few of them.

Sally in particular.

She didn’t want to go with the plan, and was trying to convince the others. Evan doesn’t intervene. He’d let them argue her out. Herman had already left with Max, but Anna pulls him aside.

“Lost your boy?” She asks, head tilting curiously. Evan waves it off “Doesn’t matter. He’s gone and we’ve got bigger problems.” She nods “Understandable. He was small. It is sad, but you’ll move along.” She pats his shoulder roughly before moving past him and away towards the basement.

Phillip joins him next, leaving Amanda to argue with Sally. His eyes are soft when he takes Evans hand. Evan doesn’t say anything as Phillip brings his hand up to his chest. There’s barely a heartbeat there, but he gets the gist of what he was trying to say. He lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, filling his mask with hot air.

The tall man had always been empathetic towards others, somthing evan had a hard time grasping. Still he removes his hand, squeezing Phillips before letting go. Behind Phillip he can see Amanda’s getting frustrated, and Sally isn’t backing down. He sends Phillip to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand.

The last thing he needed was Amanda’s temper getting out of control and causing problems. He already had a distaste for her, and her short temper and way of thinking always escalated into a bigger problem if left unchecked. As far as evan was concerned the only good thing about her was she took orders surprisingly well, despite her shaky beliefs.

He watches as Phillip handles it, taking Sally aside. Amanda sulks off, hopefully towards some trials. With Sally in good hands Evan heads off himself, taking the tunnels. He makes his way back to his estate, winding and twisting till he comes out the other basement. Up the stairs he patrols the grounds.

No pallets or chests burn into existence, and the place is deadly silent. Evan feels like a ghost, and he figures he might as well be, walking the memory of what used to be his.

No...not a memory.

A mockery.

Some little things do change, branches that weren’t there before. Windows broken out that were boarded up.

Evan notices them.

What used to be his...now just a construct made to tie him here. A reminder of what he’s done to deserve to be here. If this was hell, it was a sure of a lot different than from what he was taught as a boy.

Worse in a way.

If trials didn’t start back up...Evan feared someone was going to have to face the eldritch horror keeping them there.

He knew who that someone would be.

He needed to be ready.

He had to be.


	11. The Campfire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyo yet another chapter. sorry it’s taking so long to pick up, but have no fear because next chapter is where everything goes wrong. did i say wrong? i meant everything’s just dandy don’t worry about it. 
> 
> this chapter is all jeramy, since i figured more of ‘not being able to get into trials’ was boring. i realize after proof reading this chapter that jeramy’s a little cry baby. whoops. i mean kids cry but boy oh boy can this boy not hold it together. 
> 
> on a different note i’m still looking for someone to beta this fic, which mostly consists of spell check and making sure it reads smoothly. feel free to message Evans ask blog about being a beta. 
> 
> and as always! feedback keeps me chugging along! be sure to tell me what you think!

They walk in silence for awhile, ducking under branches that hung low. There's really nothing of interest in the woods besides the occasional crow that flits from branch to branch as they pass. Jeramy's vaguely aware that if he had been with Evan they would have already been at the clearing by now, but the woods stretch on. Occasionally Jake bends down and picks up a branch, inspecting it before either tucking it in his vest or tossing it.

"Are you looking for something?" Jeremy asks, breaking the silence. Jake glances back at him, looking down at the branch. "Sometimes there's some pretty interesting stuff out here...coins, Burnt branches..Found a few lockets before...burn them in the fire and things change during trials." he shrugs, kicking at the leaves on the ground.

"Keeps it interesting. Let me know if you find anything"

He moves along, and now at least Jeremy has something to do. He doesn't find much, a few cool looking rocks or weirdly shaped leaves but Jake doesn't want them. He keeps some of the rocks.

 

When Jake stops suddenly Jeremy perks up, looking around. He's confused for a moment, then he sees it. Burning brightly in the distance is the camp fire, and jeramy's heart sinks. They were back, but this time it's quiet. "Hm. Usually takes longer" Jake mutters turning to face Jeremy, arms crossing. "I've seen you before. Out in the trials." He raises an eyebrow at him, and Jeremy shrinks down. "You want to tell me what's up with that?" Hes waiting on an answer, Jeremy knows but he can't bring himself to say anything.

He didn't even consider the fact that the survivors may have seen him.

He focuses instead on his overalls, pulling at the little metal loops. He'd taken so much pride in helping Evan catch the survivors, laying traps down for them to step into and ultimately leading to their hooking, but now faced with the fact that at least Jake definitely saw him he realizes he's completely at his mercy. He glances up at jakes face, eyes stinging from the threat of tears forming.

Jake doesn't move, just keeps looking at him, and it's like that single look is weighing down on jeramy's shoulders. He's in trouble he know he is. He looks back down, clenching his jaw to keep from crying.

 

Jake crouches down in front of him, looking up to see his face. "I've seen you behind the big guy, following him around. David told me he ignored you when he tried to get you the first time. Nobody believed him, everyone thought the entity had finally broken him." A hand grabs his shoulder, and Jeremy flinches.

 

Big trouble.

 

"Not to mention your little stunt last night, and trying to sneak away again earlier."

 

"I'm sorry"

 

his voice breaks, and he shakes as he looks at Jake.

"that's what I thought..." Jake says, letting go of him and dusting his jeans off. He glances back at the fire, letting out a sigh.

"You're not trying to get back home you're trying to get back to the killers." he turns back to face Jeremy, though he looks more tired than ever.

"Alright. How about this. I'll cut you a deal. If we can get you back, I need you to tell them something for me. How's that?" The words are like a jolt of relief, a shaky breath escapes Jeremy and he feels like he's about to pass out.

 

He sways a bit but Jake places his hand back on his shoulder to steady him. "Easy kid. First off, don't lock your knees. You'll pass out like that. Second, you've still got to answer some questions." Jeremy nods quickly, wiping his eyes. "You're going to answer this time, right?" Jeremy nods before clearing his throat a bit

 

"Yes..."

 

"Good. Find a seat."

 

looking around Jeremy finds a tree root that sticks a little above the ground, plopping down on it. His hand goes into his pocket, fingers rubbing around the rocks in there. It's a little calming, and as Jake takes a seat in the dirt in front of him he's glad he picked them up. 

It isn't long before the questions start.

"So you've really been with the killers, haven't you?" It's less accusing this time and Jeremy nods.

"Big guy your dad? I've only seen you with him, nobody else."

 

Jeremy frowns for a second. Evan wasn't his dad...he tries to think back to his dad, but the memories are cloudy. In fact most of the memories from before he arrived are cloudy. He couldn't remember his last name, hell he had trouble with his first name when he first got there. Jake seems to have taken the pause as him claiming back up again because he lets out a frustrated sigh "you said you'd answer."

 

Jeremy shakes his head, hands squeezing the rocks. "He's not my dad...but...he was taking care of me..." Jake looks a little surprised, letting out a little hmph.

 

"They never hurt you?"

 

Jeremy looks up quickly, "no."

 

He thinks back to his knee. It still stung but that wasn't Evans fault. He tripped...Evan had made sure none of the others attacked him. Sure Max had gotten rough with him but that was just having fun...he notices Jake glances at his knee before looking back at him.

 

"Evan wanted to get me back home...but I fell..And when we turned around we got swept into a trial...and I wasn't with him anymore...then David found me..."

 

"Back home? Wait so you're not originally from the killer clearing, you've actually got a home outside the fog?"

 

Jeremy is about to answer when he realizes something. He'd never said anything about the clearing. He wasn't the only one who had been hiding something. Had Jake been to the clearing? Lisa has said something about bringing someone down into the tunnels but he couldn't remember who.

He just nods, and Jake seems to be fine with the nod. "You'll need more than my help getting back, it's not going to be easy." He glances back at the campfire as the sounds of people laughing echo off the trees. "Probably okay to head back now if they're getting along again. I'll see what I can do and let you know when we can try."

He gives him a pointed look "Don't do anything stupid. Just stick around the campfire, and I don't know, make something up if anyone asks about where you came from." with that he stands back up, stretching his arms. He holds out a hand and pulls Jeremy up, nodding his head at the light in the distance. "Let's go."

 

 

When they reach the campfire Jake lets go of his hand, waving at claudette. She walks towards them, "Welcome back. I see you took Jeremy with you. Find anything?" she asks. Jake chuckles, pulling a few branches out of his vest to show her. "Finders keepers" he says, pulling them back after claudette reaches for them. She rolls her eyes at him "You and the hooks, I swear. Wouldn't hurt to focus on generators you know."

"oh come on, how many times have I saved your ass from a hook? It's worth it."

Claudette waves him off and Jeremy realizes that Claudette was a lot like Lisa in a way. She had the same kind spirit and a sort of motherly attitude towards the others.

 

He remembers the rocks in his pocket and quickly digs them out "Look what I found!" She takes them from him, rolling them around in her hands "Oh wow that's so neat!" she smiles and hands them back, wiping her hands on her jeans. Jake gives her a weird look and she leans towards him, voice low "Kinda sweaty" Jeremy ducks his head, face turning red. Claudette must have notice he heard her because she throws her hands up, ready to apologize but Jake tugs on her shoulder and spares Jeremy the embarrassment.

 

She give one last look at Jeremy, mouthing 'sorry' before heading back to the log. Jake pats his back with a smile "It's fine. Sit tight." and with that he leaves Jeremy alone to do whatever.

 

He isn't sure where to go, he could join the others on the log but there's a few people just standing around in groups. Before he can pick Quentin waves him over and the decision is made for him. He's talking with Dwight and Nea, both who step aside so he can join. "hey kid, what've you been up to?" He asks, and Jeremy feels all eyes turn on him.

"I found some rocks..." He says, pointing back at where they had came out of the woods. "Jake took me on a walk." Quentin smiles, nodding his head "That's cool." Jeremy glances at Nea and Dwight, and while Dwight smiles nervously Nea stares back. Her eyes flicker over his shoulder though and glancing behind him he finds she's staring at David, who's talking to Laurie. He looks back in time to see Dwight pull something out of his pocket, holding his hand out towards Jeremy.

 

Jeremy holds out his hand and a small heavy object lands in it "what's this?" he asks, opening his hand. In it sits a small cotton bag, with what felt like sand inside. Just as he goes to open it, it's snatched out of his hands. Nea throws the small bag at Dwight, pushing his shoulder. "Don't be giving him that! What's wrong with you?" Dwight fumbles, dropping the bag on the ground. Quentin is quick to step between them, holding a hand up "hey...hey Easy. It's just a luck pouch there's no need to do that" Nea takes this new challenge, straighten up to match Quentin’s height. "He doesn't need it, there's no reason to waste offerings."

She isn't backing down, but Dwight already has, scooping up the pouch and slowly creeping back. Her loud outburst has caught the attention of the others, and as the silent stand off continues it grows quiet around the camp fire.

 

Quentin doesn't look as determined as a second ago now that everyone's watching and he shrinks a little, back hunching. "Step up or step off!" David calls out, and from the look on his face he's enjoying this. Laurie lunches his shoulder, getting up and moving away from him. "What?" he calls after her only to be met with an eye roll.

 

When Jeremy turns his attention back to the two they haven't moved, but Dwight has snuck off away from the impending fight. "Well?" Nea asks, crossing her arms. "Step up or step off" she repeats, and David laughs in the background. Quentin suddenly relaxes, and it isn't long before claudette is there, pulling on Neas arm. She jerks her head at her, clearly unhappy but she doesn't fight her. "Come on. That's enough of that." She pulls her away, and while he feels a swoop of relief from everyone he also hears a tsk from none other than David.

 

As claudette leads her away, she shakes her head at David. "Don't be nagging things on, you're better than that."

While claudette talks to Nea on the other side of the fire, Quentin rubs his face. "Heh...sorry Kid. Did you want the pouch?" he asks, glancing around for Dwight.

Jeremy shrugs, looking back towards the two girls. "I don't wanna cause a fight...."

 

"it's fine. Think Neas just still worked up after the trial. It's not your fault."

 

He ruffles his hair, smiling down at him. It looked strained, though everything about Quentin looked strained.

"Tell you what. I'll go see if I can find Dwight, and later today I'll sneak you the pouch. It'll be a secret." he says.

Jeremy shrugs, "okay..."

 

He doesn't really care about the pouch all that much, but Quentin was already looking around and stepping away to find Dwight. "Don't worry about it. Should be another trial coming up anyway so it'll quiet down soon." 

He reassures him, and then he's gone.

 

Jeremy makes his way back to the fire, holding his hands over it. It wasn't really cold out or anything but he'd seen people do this in movies. It was nice. What movie had he seen someone do this? He thinks back, but he can't remember the name. He wasn't paying attention and the flames jump upwards, covering his hands. He yelps and falls back, looking at his hands. It felt hot but his hands are fine, maybe a little warm. He must have gotten out of the way in time. He'd be more careful near the fire.

 

Just then he spots Jake near the edge of the woods, with him is Dwight. Dwight listens intently before nodding, casting a glance at Jeremy and shuffling back into the woods and out of sight. Jake sees him watching and jogs up to him, holding out a hand.

Back on his feet he follows Jake, who looks serious. There's not a trace of a smile on his face when he says

 

"We're ready."

**Author's Note:**

> If you’d like to see the art for this chapter, check out https://mrmacmiwwan.tumblr.com/  
> Feedback is very much appreciated!


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